My two-year-old English Cocker Spaniel, Moke, has figured out a life lesson that has eluded many of us. His secret: doing what it takes. Like his older Aussie mix brother, Misha, Moke loves to a killer game of chase. The problem, of course, is that the only time you...
I often joke that if you’re experiencing writer’s self-doubt, then you must, by definition, be a writer. I’m not sure why we’re all so ridiculously insecure, but that does seem to be the case. If you don’t agree with me, you probably don’t know a lot of writers. Take...
I don't ever wonder why people would hire a book/writing coach like me. Twenty-five years of helping clients work through their writing struggles and publish their books tells me all I need to know. But if there was any lingering doubt, all I’d have to do is look at...
Is me or I correct? Do you know? Or have you joined the apparent national movement to get that wrong? The trend drives me so nutty that I’m going to do my bit to reverse it by reposting a version of this rant every quarter. Of course, it’s hard to blame anyone for the...
To know me is to know my dogs. They are my family. They are my constant companions at home or on the road in my Eurovan, which should be named Dog House 2. Dog House 1, a Rialta that looked like a stretched version of the Eurovan, finally died a few years ago after...
Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson, who won four Olympic gold medals and eight Word Championship gold medals, had an absolute sense of how we would work together on his book Gold Rush. We were going to take what has now become a standard hybrid approach to...
"A closed mouth doesn't get fed," a teen said at the close of a recent NPR interview about students in Chicago having a voice regarding their school improvements. I’d never heard the saying, but I figured it was a little too pithy for a high school student to come up...
A few months ago, a researcher contacted my brother, Jeff, and me about interviews my dad had conducted for his book The Last Jews in Berlin, originally published in 1982. He wanted to use one particular set of interviews for a book he’s helping another author with....
Bad habits are hard to break. On dog walks, my two-year-old English Cocker Spaniel continues to jump on humans and their canine companions. Meanwhile, my five-year-old Aussie-Shepherd-Husky insists on introducing himself to new pups in the most intimate of ways. Both...
Are your efforts to promote yourself and/or the products or services you offer serving you as well as they should? Let’s see. Does your promotional material: Provide potential customers with solid information rather than hype about how your products or services will...
